The state Anti-Corruption Commission (DKSK) President Biljana Ivanovska said that the Commission will investigate the allegations of nepotism and patronage in the public service which are being revealed daily. Never the less, DKSK begins working under the cloud of patronage itself, after Nuri Bajrami, brother in law of Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi, was appointed to the Commission and was elected as Ivanovska’s deputy.

Justice Minister Renata Deskovska insisted that the appointment is legitimate and that “a brother in law is not really a close relative”, and Ivanovska acknowledged that Bajrami had every right to apply for the position. His appointment raised concerns that his DUI party, which is permanently accused but never actually investigated over corruption, will be protected from scrutiny by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Ivanovska said that the cases of hiring along family lines, the kind of which Bajrami is accused of, will be in the focus of DKSK. New members were recently appointed to the Commission after it was left inactive for a year following the mass resignations of the previous members, who were called out by US Ambassador Jess Baily.

We will ask the public companies which being named to deliver all documents on the hirings to us. After our analysis, we will inform the public of our findings, she said.

Zoran Zaev was confronted on Tuesday evening by a journalist who read out a dozen of examples where relatives of Government officials were recently hired in state run companies or in the public administration.